Art City Now Releases New Podcast Series on Color the Creek Street Art Festival

New Color the Creek Mural by Anthony Garcia Sr. (birdseedanthony)

The arts podcast Art City Now has just released a brand new series covering the street art festival in Battle Creek known as Color the Creek. The series covers the festival in 2020, talking with the artists, staff, the founder and supporters. One of the interesting things about this new series is the abundance of episodes and the addition of video episodes, as well.

“I love the idea of talking with artists on an audio format because artists tend to open up more, perhaps be a little more relaxed. Cameras can change the dynamic, depending on the person,” says Art City Now host and founder Troy Ramos. “However, for this series, it seemed important to include a number of episodes which were video, as well, so as to visually show the actual works and the artists themselves talking about it. I think it’ll strengthen the connections being made.”

Art City Now is a podcast which explores various arts related events and festivals in different cities through conversations with artists, organizations and leaders in local arts communities. With each series, Art City Now aims to provide a platform for unifying a sense of connection in the arts communities and beyond.

“The really fascinating thing about this festival is that it brings major artists from major cities to this smaller community, every year,” Ramos added. “And so what happens is you’ve got this small city accumulating, year after year, these important works by well known street artists. There’s nothing like it anywhere.”

Color the Creek founder Justin Andert, who is among many featured on series, agrees and is excited about the partnership between Color the Creek and Art City Now. “We are very lucky to have Art City Now helping tell the story of Color the Creek,” says Andert. “As a Festival in a Small City, it is a great opportunity for us to be featured on a podcast that is highlighting the Arts in Michigan and beyond. Color the Creek is a Street Art Festival using artists from all over the U.S., (and) we are trying to build bridges from Battle Creek to the rest of the world. Art City Now helps us do just that!”-”

This new series by Art City Now is of course FREE to listen to and includes at least 12 or 13 brand new episodes. Six of the episodes are in video format, available on the Art City Now‘s YouTube channel. And there are another 6 or 7 audio only episodes available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify, this website, ArtHouse43.com).

This brand new series was made possible in part by the WK Kellogg Foundation, the Battle Creek Community Foundation and the Art Center of Battle Creek. “The sponsors for this program are true patrons of the arts and we couldn’t thank them enough for their support. Their support means everything. It makes programs like this possible and goes a really long way towards connecting art with our communities, in Battle Creek and beyond.”

The ongoing Pandemic also created a lot of obstacles for both the festival and ACN. “We had to do our best to make sure everyone was safe, but we felt it’s also important to continue working,” says Ramos. “The artists and the organizations which support them and interact with them, all need to continue working and to have platforms. As long as safety is the top priority, we have to carry-on. And it’s not just about the financial need to survive, it’s important for the culture and mental health of everyone involved; including the public who get to enjoy both the festival and this new podcast series covering it.”

For more information you can visit arthouse43.com and colorthecreek.com. And you can watch a video episodes on Art City Now’s YouTube channel here, , and listen to all audio episodes wherever you get your podcasts.

New Color the Creek mural by Remote (@remoteroc) and Hiero (@hieroveiga)